A tale of two popes…

As I read Facebook this morning, like many of my priest-friends, I was struck speechless upon hearing about the upcoming ‘resignation’ of Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, from the Petrine ministry.  Commentators in the media were not struck nearly as speechless, of course, so a lot has already been said and there will be a lot more to be said in the days ahead by those who are wiser and more articulate than I am.  The initial thoughts I have is that, “this is fitting”- a very “fitting” thing that this gentleman, this priest, this chosen one to carry the mantle of Peter should choose to do this now.

 

I don’t say it is “fitting” as a matter of justice… only the pope can make this decision, and he will stand before God to account of it without owing me any explanation at all.  It is not in any way appropriate for me to judge or say that we need a younger pope or a healthier pope or a pope of a different political persuasion... that's God's decision.  When I say this decision is “fitting” it doesn't mean either of these things.

 

His decision is also not “fitting” in terms of giving this man a well-deserved retirement, even after decades of priestly and episcopal ministry, and 8 long, difficult years of Petrine ministry.  There is something to the statement that the one who is pope "does not come down from the cross" as Cardinal Dziwisz was reported to have said, but with all due respect to the Cardinal, what was "fitting" for John Paul II is not necessary as "fitting" for Benedict XVI.

I say Benedict's abdication (and I hate that word with respect to what he is doing) it is “fitting” as one would perceive the ‘fitting’ closure of a good story, where everyone will ‘live happily after’.  It is ‘fitting’ as a righteous conclusion to completing an arduous task.  It is ‘fitting’, as Benedict himself has concluded in prayer, that this is what the Church in this day and age needs. 

But God in his mercy has a way of leading us to those events in our lives that are most fitting to his glory, doesn’t he?

Pope John Paul II came to the See of Peter a vigorous man… fifty-eight, if I recall correctly.  I was in first grade and saw him come out onto the loggia on a black and white TV with lousy reception… it was right around lunchtime, and my teacher, Sr. Victorine, was making a very big deal over it, and over receiving the papal blessing which would end the appearance.  Pope John Paul served for more than 26 years as our supreme pontiff, the last 10 of which were rather painful for us all to watch, although we all knew it was ‘fitting’ for him to suffer as he did.  You see, Pope John Paul II deeply understood the importance of his “Witness to Hope”… a man broken physically by infirmity, this giant of outdoors and globetrotting needed to show the Church that the pope is not simply a tower of power, but is ultimately a man of prayer and suffering… one who bears the wounds of Christ in his own body and in his own life.  As a younger man, he courageously engaged and defeated the greatest political evils of our epoch manifested by the Nazi and communist regimes.  He appeared on the Loggia that dark night with the message “be not afraid”.  He took a would-be assassin’s bullet.  He shepherded the Church in the confusion of the years following the great council.

In time, his body betrayed him under the assault of Parkinson’s Disease, until he appeared a mere shell of his former self.  For all the spiritual and temporal power he wielded as pope, he knew that “power is made perfect in suffering”.  Precisely because we watched him over the years offer himself ever more fully and perfectly into the ministry of suffering, it was fitting that we walk with him all the way out to the end.  The world needed to see that this vigorous missionary of God’s love was first and foremost a man of prayer and intimacy with God, rather than simply a charismatic personality on the world stage… this core ministry defined him more than any pastoral trip or encyclical or public ceremony.  In his intimacy with the Cross of Christ, he showed us the greatest dignity of the human person.  Placing himself in the hands of the crucified Christ, he changed the world if you remember those intensely spiritual days of Easter 2005.  (Remember also the terrible, parallel death of Terri Schiavo also taking place at that time?)
 

A few weeks after JP2’s departure ‘to the house of his father’, Benedict came to the loggia in the middle of the day.  I was a deacon, finishing my last few weeks at Mundelein seminary.  The smoke was black and then turned white as I watched with several of my buddies on CNN.  (I preferred CNN because they tended to be quiet and let the news unfold, rather than dealing with the incessant yapping on other networks, but I digress.)  Mass at the seminary was to begin at 11:30, but I and my buddies hung back in the excitement of the moment (and we went to Marytown at noon… just don’t anyone tell my formation contact person about this!) and saw Joseph Ratzinger in the unfamiliar white and red that not only did not seem to belong to him, but had belonged to another-John Paul II-almost as long as I can remember.  There was a buzz around the house as Peter had been revealed anew in this theologian and vaticanista whom we all knew in one way or another from our studies.  (Yes, I still have my vintage 2003 “Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club” mug on my desk at the parish.)  He was the favorite going into the conclave by many, but as Cardinal George would later explain, when the cardinals sat down and looked around the room, it was obvious who the right choice was… it was ‘fitting’, that this leader and closest collaborator with the old pope sit on the Throne of Peter himself and bring order to a Church which was feeling lost and abandoned by the death of its beloved father.

 

Even though past the age of 75, he took on the Office of Peter with profound humility and faith—something which I don’t think is understandable by so many who see the papacy as a mere expression of temporal power and influence over the political and social machinery of our Church.  I could see it in his eyes that very first day though, that understanding who he was to be as a ‘worker in the vineyard’ and the poor soul chosen to stand in the very big shoes of the fisherman before him.  He would be different; he would be approaching the ministry not in vigor of a young JP2, but in a careful, sustained way to preserve his ability to carry out the apostolic work as long as possible with his own sense of integrity and zeal.  Our expectations were different, our needs as a Church were different.  It would be only natural to see his papal persona in terms of the sustained theological reflection offered in his books, and the sobriety with which he celebrated the sacred rites, compared to his fiery predecessor in his prime.

 

And so we come to this day when Benedict formally announces his intention to lay down his Petrine ministry.  How is it ‘fitting’?  He says that a healthier, more vigorous man needs to step in, and he will go off to live his remaining days in intense prayer for the Church.  Like JP2, Benedict XVI is a man of profound prayer and divine intimacy.  One thing I see is that his announcement highlights and validates anew the fundamental work of so many religious and other faithful around the world who spend their lives in prayer outside of the eye of cameras and away from the microphones... some in cloisters, some in nursing homes (some as ministers and some as residents), some in quiet, seemingly-insignificant and forgotten ministries across the far-flung world.  A pope lives not only to rule and guide the Church, but to pray for it.  JP2 understood this and a great part of his witness to prayer was open, public suffering.  But Benedict XVI understands that God has not chosen to give him the same vocation of suffering, but rather the special gift of insight that he can legitimately lay down the yoke of ministry in the humility to allow another to take it up.  In doing this Benedict finds that he can maintain his personal integrity as Joseph Ratzinger, now to be bishop-emeritus of Rome and prayer-warrior for the Church.   In discerning this radical change in course, he is now being welcomed by God to do something new but no less important in his twilight years.  The Church needs his offering of praise and further, God will use his servant to highlight and raise the dignity of contemplative prayer as a vocation before the world while another Peter takes on the bold ministry of building up the brethren through active governance and pastoral care of the Church.  If this is what Benedict has heard with 'certainty' from God, how can we say anything but, 'how fitting'! 

 

I am confident that God will provide a successor to Benedict who will fulfill the needs of the Church going forward.  I don’t know if it is a globetrotter or a non-Italian ‘third-world’ pope, a liberal or conservative, old or young… I just know that in the last century-and-then-some, we have been tremendously blessed by the men who have heard the call to ‘put out into the deep’ as Peter did, and have taken that call with intense faith and dedication.  I trust that the Spirit is alive, well, and active in this ministry, and in doing so, I recognize that, while surprising, today’s announcement is eminently ‘fitting’.

--Fr. Tom Donovan